Philadelphia’s Hip-Hop Summit National Town Hall Meeting On Community Empowerment to Air on CN8, The Comcast Network in AugustCN8’s Art Fennell to moderate Summit

Philadelphia (July 7, 2006) – The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and the National Voter Coalition announced today that CN8, The Comcast Network, will broadcast the Hip-Hop Summit National Town Hall Meeting on Community Empowerment in Comcast homes from Maine to Virginia. The town hall meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 12th at the University of Pennsylvania’s Irvine Auditorium.

“We are honored to have CN8, The Comcast Network, broadcast the Town Hall Meeting to over 9 million viewers,” said Simmons. “We are convinced this will reinforce our goal of registering 10,000 new voters.”

Art Fennell, news anchor for CN8, The Comcast Network, will moderate the panel with Dr. Chavis. Fennell also will host an hour-long broadcast special airing in August that will showcase the town hall meeting’s important messages of empowerment and involvement. CN8 is the nation’s leading regional cable network with a reach that spans more than 9 million homes from Maine to Virginia.

“I am proud to support the mission of the Hip-Hop Summit National Town Hall Meeting on Community Empowerment and help motivate 18- to 35-year-olds to register to vote,” Fennell said. “CN8 is honored to share messages of political and community empowerment with our audience of more than 9 million viewers.”

Based on the success of previous years, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is partnering once again with the City of Philadelphia and the National Voter Coalition. In 2003 and 2004, they worked together and registered thousands of young voters in a movement that received national recognition and unprecedented results. HSAN has conducted the Hip-Hop Summits in almost every major city in the United States. Philadelphia, however, is viewed as the launching pad for the voter registration success of HSAN.

Sponsors for the Hip-Hop Summit National Town Hall Meeting on Community Empowerment include Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in conjunction with Wal-Mart Financial Services. In addition, Gary Barbera’s #1 Dodgeland / #1 Chryslerland / #1 Jeepland, consistently ranked among the Mid-Atlantic’s top new car dealerships, is a local sponsor of the event.

About CN8, The Comcast NetworkCN8, The Comcast Network (www.cn8.tv <www.cn8.tv> ) has quickly become one of the nation’s largest and most honored regional 24-hour diversified television networks – serving more than 9 million cable homes on -the East Coast. The network provides quality, locally produced programming in four main areas: live, interactive television; regional news; entertainment; and coverage of high school, college and professional sports. CN8 has been nominated for 274 regional Emmy Awards. The Comcast Network is owned and operated by Comcast Cable Communications, Inc., a division of Comcast Corporation and the country’s leading cable and broadband services provider.
About HSANFounded in 2001, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of hip-hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the well-being of at-risk youth throughout the United States. HSAN is a non-profit, non-partisan national coalition of hip-hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents and youth leaders united in the belief that hip-hop is an enormously influential agent for social change which must be responsibly and proactively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice.

About the National Voter CoalitionFounded in 1999, the National Voter Coalition is an outgrowth of the combined century of campaign experiences among its management team, ranging from 5 to 35 years apiece within local, state and national voter registration efforts. NVC was created as a response to the increasingly disturbing consequences of low voter turnout amongst historically disenfranchised Americans, primarily poor, underserved residents of African-American and Latino communities.